What is Psoriasis, Causes, Types and Treatments

Psoriasis is a common skin condition characterized by red itchy patches on the skin. It is long lasting and tend to change the life cycle of the cells of the skin. This condition causes the skin to have extra cells building up on it and are most often painful.

Because this condition is long lasting, people find it difficult getting proper medication for it. In this post, we will be discussing largely about psoriasis and how it could be treated.

What Is Psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disorder that causes red patches that are painful. It is long lasting and can last for a lifetime. It could be hereditary or triggered by certain environmental factors. It is associated with certain medical conditions like obesity and seems to be more predominant among individuals with this health condition.

Psoriasis is caused when the skin cells begin to grow faster than normal. The immune system sends wrong signals that result to increased cell turnover.

However, while these excess cells are growing, the body will find it difficult to shed off the excesses causing them to pile up on the surface of the skin. These excess skin cells are what causes psoriasis.

Psoriasis can occur around the elbow, knee, scalp, palm, feet, hand and face and can also occur in other parts of the body. It is quite difficult to diagnose this disorder as it looks like most other skin conditions.

It might require using the microscope to take a closer look at the skin patches before it can be diagnosed.

Psoriasis is not contagious as it may seem to appear. You cannot get it by touching the infected areas.

Types of psoriasis

There are different types of psoriasis and while some people might have one type others might be infected with more than one type at a time.

The various type of psoriasis includes:

Guttate is a common type of psoriasis. Statistics have it that one out of every 10 persons suffering from psoriasis has the guttate type. It is predominant among people under age 30 and takes the shape of water drops. It is smaller in size when compared to the plaque type and takes a finer scale. It usually occurs in the arms, legs and scalp and is majorly caused by strep throat

Plaque or psoriasis vulgaris: This is the most common type of psoriasis. Studies have proven that about 90% of people with this skin disease have the plaque type. It is long lasting and therefore could stay for years. It usually starts as a with a small red bump that merges with other similar bumps to form a big plaque of red skin and is usually covered with silvery scales. It usually occurs in the elbow, knee and other part of the body.

Erythrodermic or exfoliative psoriasis is often chronic and might require hospitalization. It can spread throughout the body and occurs as a bright red with affine scaling. It often causes the patient to lose body fluids which could result to other serious sicknesses.

Inverse or flexural psoriasis is predominant among people that are overweight and occurs majorly around the armpit, breast and other skin fold areas.

Pustular psoriasis is often accompanied with fever and infections. It occurs as a small blister containing white blood cells. It often occurs around the palm and feet region.

Causes Of Psoriasis

Although the major cause of psoriasis is yet to be fully understood; a number of factors have proven to be major triggers. Some of them include:

Genetic factors: Studies have proven that genetic factors plays a major role in causing psoriasis

Environmental factors: It is believed that an individual to have psoriasis, the person must have acquired the causative gene in combination with being exposed to certain environmental conditions like stress, injury and so many others

Other possible triggers include:

Infection

Medication

Stress

Dryness of the skim

Smoking

Alcohol

Injury in the skin

Treatment of psoriasis

In treating psoriasis, the major focus should be how to stop the cells from growing fast and how to remove the scales.

There are three major ways psoriasis can be treated. The treatment type used is determined by the severity of the disease

Topical treatment: This involves the use of ointment and creams applied directly to the skin. Most times, the topical treatment is combined with other remedies for proper treatment because they are not strong enough to control it

Phototherapy: This involves the use of natural ultraviolet light or artificial UV for treatment. It is not advisable to just stand under the sun; the doctor have to administer this type of treatment to avoid skin cancer.

Systematic Treatment: This is often given if the psoriasis is very severe. IT involves the use of pills and injection for treatment. Some medications that can used for this purpose include; Cyclosporine, Retinoids, Methotrexate and Biological response modifiers.

Finally, psoriasis is a chronic disease and should be properly treated. Early diagnosis and proper treatment is the fastest way to control this long-lasting disease.